Why is NetBIOS, Samba or RDP an insecure protocol?
NetBios, Samba or CIFS (Common Internet File System) are all names for Microsoft file sharing. This family of protocols has a long history of vulnerabilities and insecure default settings. For this reason these protocols are blocked both inbound and outbound by the Stanford border routers. RDP, also know as Microsoft terminal services or Remote Desktop Protocol is a very powerful tool. RDP allows you to connect remotely to a Windows host and control is as if you were sitting at the keyboard. Due to the dangerous nature of this protocol it is strongly recommended to use the Stanford VPN to RDP to hosts on campus. In addition the default configuration of RDP does not authenticate the server and therefore is susceptable to a Man-in-The-Middle (MiTM) attack. It is necessary to configure the terminal server to use a TLS connection to prevent a MiTM attack.
Related Questions
- I want to try Samba Server for eCS(OS/2), but I have installed NetBIOS over TCP/IP and I do not want to screw this machine. Anything I can do for a quick and painless test?
- Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is not supported on all Windows Home edition versions. Is there any way to use SymRDP with those Operating Systems?
- Does SA support all functions of RDP protocol transparently?
